Research Question: Why are project based graduation requirements being implemented? Contributed by: Chris Staniszewski
Title: Rhode Island Downplays Tests as Route to Diplomas: Students Must Demonstrate Their Knowledge, Skills
Summary:
This article deals with topics such as Rhode Island's move to performance based graduation requirements as well as Providence's desire to move to a city-wide curriculum/schedule. It mentions the reasoning behind the move to PBGR's (time management, working with others, organization, ect.) as well as the fact that they are first being implemented in 2008. The article states that supporters are pushing the concept for these benefits, but are also cautious of putting in a state-wide plan that has so much room for error.
Reaction:
This article, from ERIC Digest, was a good summary. It mentioned much on the background of the topics and also shed some light on Providence's plans as far as education is concerned. There wasn't much of an opinion for me to react to, and my reaction is more akin to my reaction to performance based graduation requirements as a whole; they are a part of a good effort, but too much weight is being placed on them. I understand that people want students to be more well rounded and be able to work with others, but why not focus those efforts, for instance, on an art program? Music teaches organization, working with others, and time management in preparing for rehearsals and performances. Performance is a huge part of music. They are great in principle, but the idea that they become more important than regular classwork is preposterous.
High school exit exams are covered in this article, and the problems with them seem to shine brightest. It notes lowered graduation rates, and mentions that these can prove very dangerous if some other "performance measurement" option is not created. It also says that experts believe that any one performance should not be the basis of determining someone's graduation status. Research was done, and it listed multiple positive benefits for having one's graduation based on multiple fields of performance.
Reaction:
I was initially drawn to this article because it mentions exit exams, which are one of the performance based graduation requirements that can be chosen by RI schools. They are prevalent across the US. While it did yield important information on these topics, there was much more valuable information to be found. The fact that it mentioned the need for other performance measurements seems like a lead-in to PBGR's. It also mentioned a good study done, that says graduation should not be based on any one requirement, and while PBGR's are not meant to be an end-all-be-all, from experience I can say they were stressed as one. I believe there should be a 4 out of 5 system, or something similar, where there are many ways to prove achievement and only some or most need to be met. This article shows that the experts agree.
Summary: Coventry high school has been doing capstone projects for years; long before it was a graduation requirement in the state of Rhode Island. Because of this, there was a visit to Coventry High School to examine how they conducted the process. Coventry High School is a leader in the capstone movement, both in results and support for the project. State policy makers were interested how the school could plan and produce the projects on a school-wide level as part of RI's performance based graduation requirements. This article summed up the process in short and reactions from the visit.
Reaction:
Being from Coventry, I liked this article and seeing how other schools and even the state were interested in how we conducted the capstone project. Capstone projects are one of six options, of which each high school had to choose two, for performance based graduation requirements. It gave me a formal resource for a lot of the experiences I had, and had a good quote at the end that summed up the experience from a student standpoint: “It was stressful. [But] the Capstone project is not going to go away.” Student often feel that these projects and extra requirements have a good idea behind them, but they are rigorous and do not often measure what they intend to. This can be frustrating, when a student can see the reasoning behind an idea, see why it is not working, and have no way to have any real input on the matter.
Title:Top 10 Reasons Performance Based Graduation Requirements Should Be Dropped
Summary:
This article is written by Arthur Hu, an education deform critic. It provides a collection of negatives against performance based graduation requirements. It has multiple arguments such as: no one is asking for these changes, past failures, the risks of people without diplomas, standards are set too high, ect.
Reaction:
There was no objectivity in this article, which was good to read. It gave me an opportunity to see a completely one sided argument, and determine what I thought was good and bad about his side. I believe a lot of what he has to say is right; the community is not asking for these changes. In fact, in the past they have re-elected a new school board in order to rid themselves of these requirements. There are many things a diploma is necessary for, and while I'm not saying we should hand them out like party favors, we shouldn't hand them out like Willy Wonka golden tickets either. I do have some problems with the negativity of the article though. He states that performance based graduation requirements are false illusions of change and that all will fail. In reality, I believe they are a necessary change that is only being taken too far, and should not be disposed of all together.
Jack O'Connell is distressed with the state of California's educational system. He states that there are kids in college that don't know the basics, things they should have learned in elementary schools. He calls for a change, for tougher standards. He has problems with the amount of rigorous classes offered, and that the minimum standards aren't set high enough. He also believes, in addition to tougher curriculum, that schools should collaborate with real world jobs.
Reaction:
This article, being based in California, does not seem to have much validity in trying to figure out why performance based graduation requirements are relevant in Rhode Island. However, using it allows me to bring up several important points. It brings the notion that this is a nationwide movement to make tougher, more telling graduation requirements and curriculum. There is the idea that something needs to be changed. As far as Mr. Hu's comments are concerned that only people trying to make names for themselves are demanding reform, this article could be seen in both lights. The author of this article, Jack O'Connell, is not named to be a part of any educational governing system. However, this article is published with the department of education in mind, so it could be inherently corrupted if Hu is correct. The idea that the workforce should be involved in education is also interesting, because it is also an objective of performance based graduation requirements.
Research Question: Why are project based graduation requirements being implemented?
Contributed by: Chris Staniszewski
Title: Rhode Island Downplays Tests as Route to Diplomas: Students Must Demonstrate Their Knowledge, Skills
Summary:
This article deals with topics such as Rhode Island's move to performance based graduation requirements as well as Providence's desire to move to a city-wide curriculum/schedule. It mentions the reasoning behind the move to PBGR's (time management, working with others, organization, ect.) as well as the fact that they are first being implemented in 2008. The article states that supporters are pushing the concept for these benefits, but are also cautious of putting in a state-wide plan that has so much room for error.
Reaction:
This article, from ERIC Digest, was a good summary. It mentioned much on the background of the topics and also shed some light on Providence's plans as far as education is concerned. There wasn't much of an opinion for me to react to, and my reaction is more akin to my reaction to performance based graduation requirements as a whole; they are a part of a good effort, but too much weight is being placed on them. I understand that people want students to be more well rounded and be able to work with others, but why not focus those efforts, for instance, on an art program? Music teaches organization, working with others, and time management in preparing for rehearsals and performances. Performance is a huge part of music. They are great in principle, but the idea that they become more important than regular classwork is preposterous.
[1]
Title: The Perils of High School Exit Exams
Summary:
High school exit exams are covered in this article, and the problems with them seem to shine brightest. It notes lowered graduation rates, and mentions that these can prove very dangerous if some other "performance measurement" option is not created. It also says that experts believe that any one performance should not be the basis of determining someone's graduation status. Research was done, and it listed multiple positive benefits for having one's graduation based on multiple fields of performance.
Reaction:
I was initially drawn to this article because it mentions exit exams, which are one of the performance based graduation requirements that can be chosen by RI schools. They are prevalent across the US. While it did yield important information on these topics, there was much more valuable information to be found. The fact that it mentioned the need for other performance measurements seems like a lead-in to PBGR's. It also mentioned a good study done, that says graduation should not be based on any one requirement, and while PBGR's are not meant to be an end-all-be-all, from experience I can say they were stressed as one. I believe there should be a 4 out of 5 system, or something similar, where there are many ways to prove achievement and only some or most need to be met. This article shows that the experts agree.
[2]
Title: Policymakers Study Coventry High
Summary: Coventry high school has been doing capstone projects for years; long before it was a graduation requirement in the state of Rhode Island. Because of this, there was a visit to Coventry High School to examine how they conducted the process. Coventry High School is a leader in the capstone movement, both in results and support for the project. State policy makers were interested how the school could plan and produce the projects on a school-wide level as part of RI's performance based graduation requirements. This article summed up the process in short and reactions from the visit.
Reaction:
Being from Coventry, I liked this article and seeing how other schools and even the state were interested in how we conducted the capstone project. Capstone projects are one of six options, of which each high school had to choose two, for performance based graduation requirements. It gave me a formal resource for a lot of the experiences I had, and had a good quote at the end that summed up the experience from a student standpoint: “It was stressful. [But] the Capstone project is not going to go away.” Student often feel that these projects and extra requirements have a good idea behind them, but they are rigorous and do not often measure what they intend to. This can be frustrating, when a student can see the reasoning behind an idea, see why it is not working, and have no way to have any real input on the matter.
[3]
Title: Top 10 Reasons Performance Based Graduation Requirements Should Be Dropped
Summary:
This article is written by Arthur Hu, an education deform critic. It provides a collection of negatives against performance based graduation requirements. It has multiple arguments such as: no one is asking for these changes, past failures, the risks of people without diplomas, standards are set too high, ect.
Reaction:
There was no objectivity in this article, which was good to read. It gave me an opportunity to see a completely one sided argument, and determine what I thought was good and bad about his side. I believe a lot of what he has to say is right; the community is not asking for these changes. In fact, in the past they have re-elected a new school board in order to rid themselves of these requirements. There are many things a diploma is necessary for, and while I'm not saying we should hand them out like party favors, we shouldn't hand them out like Willy Wonka golden tickets either. I do have some problems with the negativity of the article though. He states that performance based graduation requirements are false illusions of change and that all will fail. In reality, I believe they are a necessary change that is only being taken too far, and should not be disposed of all together.
[4]
Title: Time to Raise the Bar in High Schools
Summary:
Jack O'Connell is distressed with the state of California's educational system. He states that there are kids in college that don't know the basics, things they should have learned in elementary schools. He calls for a change, for tougher standards. He has problems with the amount of rigorous classes offered, and that the minimum standards aren't set high enough. He also believes, in addition to tougher curriculum, that schools should collaborate with real world jobs.
Reaction:
This article, being based in California, does not seem to have much validity in trying to figure out why performance based graduation requirements are relevant in Rhode Island. However, using it allows me to bring up several important points. It brings the notion that this is a nationwide movement to make tougher, more telling graduation requirements and curriculum. There is the idea that something needs to be changed. As far as Mr. Hu's comments are concerned that only people trying to make names for themselves are demanding reform, this article could be seen in both lights. The author of this article, Jack O'Connell, is not named to be a part of any educational governing system. However, this article is published with the department of education in mind, so it could be inherently corrupted if Hu is correct. The idea that the workforce should be involved in education is also interesting, because it is also an objective of performance based graduation requirements.
[5]
Include an APA citation, a summary, and a reaction for each article. DELETE THESE INSTRUCTIONS WHEN DONE
- Jeff Archer, “Rhode Island Downplays Tests as Route to Diplomas: Students Must Demonstrate Their Knowledge, Skills,” http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ759477&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ759477.
.- Jack O'Connell, “Time to raise the bar in high schools - Editorials (CA Dept of Education),” http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/ed/yr04oe0613.asp
.